In an electronic paper well known in the art, an electric field is applied to charged color particles, causing the particles to move in order to display an image. One technology that employs this electronic paper is called an electronic notebook in which a plurality of sheets of the electronic paper is bound in a notebook format, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,851.
The electronic paper employed in the electronic notebook includes a film containing two types of charged particles having a different color depending on the polarity of the charge; a first substrate having a first electrode; and a second substrate having a second electrode. The electronic paper is integrally formed by interposing the film between the first and second substrates in a sandwiched arrangement.
With electronic paper having this configuration, when an electric field is applied to the charged particles via the first and second electrodes, particles charged with the opposite polarity from the first electrode are attracted to the first electrode side, while particles charged with the opposite polarity from the second electrode are attracted to the second electrode.
Hence, by controlling the direction of the electric field applied to the charged particles, it is possible to control the movement of the charged particles in the electronic paper and to form images through the contrasting colors contained in the particles.
An electronic notebook includes a plurality of sheets of this electronic paper bound in a notebook form, facilitating the management of the sheets of electronic paper much like a normal notebook including a plurality of bound sheets of paper.